Letting It Out
by Quinny12
Summary: Kate struggles to tell her father about the new direction that her life has taken. Post Always. Spoilers for Always.


**A/N: Thanks AI for all the help... I'm sorry it drove you mad at three in the morning ;)**

**'Always' spoilers. Takes place about a month after the events of 'Always'.**

**Disclaimer: The real writers don't get yelled at about punctuation so much that 'comma' no longer looks like a word anymore.****  
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Kate was in a rush.

Castle had called her over more than an hour ago for a family dinner with Alexis and Martha, but through one thing or another she just hadn't been able to leave the apartment on time.

So that was how she found herself throwing on a pair of heels and scrambling through her door having hastily locked it. She sprinted towards the elevator, pressing the button anxiously whilst checking the time on her Dad's watch.

The doors opened, and she hurried inside, not seeing the man stepping out. She turned around in the elevator looking towards the doors. As hand shot out to hit the ground floor button, she glanced up, and froze.

"Uh… Dad?"

Her Dad smiled. "Hey, Katie. Why are you in such a hurry?"

She stepped out of the elevator, and fumbled for an excuse, suddenly remembering she was yet to tell her father about everything that had happened. Crap, she hadn't even told him that she'd resigned.

"Er… well, I was… meeting someone."

Jim Beckett smirked, "And who might that _someone _be?"

Kate closed her eyes, bracing herself for the teasing, and murmured quietly, "Castle"

She looked up hesitantly at her father, only to see him gazing at her with a soft smile.

"I'm pleased for you, Katie. Could have happened a little sooner, I reckon, but it's nice to see you've finally taken your blinkers off. Do you have to be with him now, or do you have time to talk to me about something?"

Jim rarely made the trip into the city, so that - coupled with the serious look on his face now the smile had gone - was what convinced her to call Castle and delay him a little longer.

"Yeah, sure Dad, just give me a minute to call him. Alright?"

He nodded. She walked past her Dad, unlocking her apartment and inviting him inside.

They sat down around her table, and he picked up the newspaper while she pulled out her phone and dialled Castle.

"Castle", he answered, picking up on the second ring.

"Hey, look, I'm really sorry, but my Dad's here, so do you mind if we delay dinner a little longer? I know I was meant to be there a while ago but…"

"No, Kate. It's no problem really. Alexis isn't actually back from Paige's yet, so another half hour for you won't make any difference."

"You sure?" She asked, biting her lip.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Although I can't assure you that there'll still be any food left by the time you arrive", he teased.

"Castle. Don't eat the food before I even get there."

Castle started whining. "But I'm so hungry Kate! You wouldn't want your poor little boyfriend to starve, would you?"

She hummed her agreement. "Yeah, it would be a little inconvenient. All that paperwork…still, don't touch the food."

"Fine… Hey, why don't you invite your Dad over for dinner? There's plenty of food, and it will give him a chance to meet my mother and Alexis too."

Kate shot a glance at her father, who had now taken to looking at all the books on her shelf.

"I'll just ask him now" She raised her voice "Dad? Castle wants to know if you'd like to join us, Martha and Alexis for dinner tonight?"

He nodded. "Sure."

Kate returned to talking to Castle, beaming, "Yeah, he'd like to come. So, see you in about half an hour? "

"Yeah", he agreed.

"Okay, bye", she said, smiling at the phone as she turned it off. She then turned to her father, who had since returned to the chairs. "So, Dad, what did you want to talk about?"

"Katie, I tried to call you earlier on your mobile, but you didn't pick up. So I figured you might be pulling another long shift at the Precinct, and I tried that number." Kate scrunched her eyes up, knowing what was coming next.

"Imagine my surprise" Jim continued, "when Detective Ryan answered the phone instead of you." Jim looked up at his daughter. "Katie, why didn't you tell me you'd resigned?"

"I'm sorry Dad. I've just had a lot going on lately."

A flash of accusation sparked behind Jim's eyes. "So much so that you couldn't tell me you'd quit your job? You didn't even tell me that you were with Castle!"

"No."

Jim took a deep breath. "Okay Katie, start from the beginning."

"Well, I told you that something else had come up in Mom's case, right?" Jim nodded. "Well, through one way or another, I found out that the sniper who shot me. Castle, Ryan, Esposito and I agreed to not tell Gates about this, because it would drag Montgomery through the mud… so we were going without backup."

Jim quickly sucked in a breath.

"Esposito and I found the place the sniper was working from. We didn't see him, Dad, he got the drop on us and he knocked Esposito out. I chased him to the rooftop and we fought. I'm not going to lie, it wasn't pretty. And it all ended with me hanging from the rooftop by my fingertips calling out for help."

"Kate," Jim interrupted, "Why wasn't Castle there?"

"What do you mean?"

"The man tried to take a bullet for you at Montgomery's funeral. I find it hard to believe that he'd abandon you now."

"We'd… we'd fought a day earlier. He told me to step away from the case; he told me that they were going to kill me. But I was so far into the rabbit hole I couldn't see what really mattered. He'd been investigating it behind my back after he told me to step away. He'd been in contact with a friend of Montgomery's, a man who was protecting me.

I was fuelled by this new information, but I felt betrayed by Castle still. And… I still went after them. Castle told me he wasn't going to stick around and watch me throw my life away and he left. I was stupid enough to let him go." She took a deep breath to bolster her confidence. "So that's why Castle wasn't there."

"Oh, Katie…" Her Dad whispered, enveloping her in a hug.

"It's all okay now, Dad. Better than okay," she said, a faint blush colouring her cheeks.

Jim laughed. "Judging by the look on your face Katie, I'd say it's far better than okay. But I assume that comes later in the story?"

"Uh yeah," she said reluctantly. "Anyway, so there I am, hanging off the building, and all I can think about is how me and Castle have survived so much together; you know freezers, drowning and tigers-"

"Hold on a second," Jim interrupted. "Did you say tigers?"

Kate's eyes widened rather comically. "I never told you about that?" Jim shook his head and smiled in amusement. "A story for another time then. But we've survived all these things, and suddenly catching Mom's killer doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is that Castle isn't there beside me, and that I'll never get to…" She trails off into her own world, forgetting what she was saying.

"You'll never get to what?" Jim prompted softly.

Kate's eyes were fixated on a point somewhere behind her father's head. "Tell him I love him."

She blinks suddenly and snaps out of her trance. "Ryan had told Gates that we were chasing my sniper, and they brought back-up with them. Ryan grabbed my hand and pulled me off the edge. But Esposito and I had disobeyed orders, so Gates had to suspend us. Hanging off that edge though… I don't know. It made me realise that I didn't need the badge anymore, that other things were more important." She gave a nonchalant shrug. "So, I resigned."

"Katie?"

"Yes Dad?"

"I'm proud of you. Putting the case behind you… I can't imagine how hard it must have been."

"Yeah. It was. But I guess it had been coming for a while, I just needed something extreme to make me realize what really mattered, what I wanted most."

As proud as I am though, I don't think I want to hear the rest of this story when we're going to see Castle soon. I do want to be able to look at him again, you know." He winked.

Kate looked embarrassed at the meaning behind her father's words. "Yeah, probably not, no. Shall we go then?"

"Yes," Jim agreed as they both headed towards her front door again. "Can't wait to grill your boyfriend" He laughed, rubbing his hands together with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Dad!" Kate admonished. "Alexis will be there. Keep the teasing to a minimum, please?"

Jim looked put out. "But Kate, she's going to college this summer. She's old enough to find it funny."

Kate considered this for a moment as she locked the door. "Okay, yes. You can rib him a little bit. But for heaven's sake, don't mention the shotgun."


End file.
